“Audu Maikori was totally irresponsible and will be prosecuted” – El-Rufai
Kaduna state governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai insists Chocolate City owner, Audu Maikori will be prosecuted for spreading falsehood.
Audu was arrested by DSS on February 17 on the grounds of making “inciting comments” on social media over the unrest in southern Kaduna.
He was later released on bail.
El-Rufai said, during the on-going Social Media Week 2017 on Thursday, that the lawyer was “completely irresponsible” with his utterances and will be prosecuted.
“We are going to prosecute him. He was arrested. His statement has been taken. He is on bail. He is going to be prosecuted. His fate will be decided by a judge,” the governor said.
El-Rufai dismissed suggestions that he harbours personal grudge against the businessman, saying the prosecution would only serve as deterrent to others who spread falsehood.
The governor said: “It is not personal. I have nothing against him. In fact, he has worked with the state government in the past. But I’m not going to sit as the governor of Kaduna state and allow anyone to post or tweet anything that leads to loss of lives without consequences.
“He posted fake pictures of Boko Haram attacks, Rwandan genocide, as Southern Kaduna killings. It is totally irresponsible to do that.
“Even when it was pointed out to him that the information was untrue, he still posted that he stood by his story. He questioned the authenticity of the press statement. He was totally and completely irresponsible,” he added.
Audu had shared, in a series of tweets crediting his driver, that students of a school in Southern Kaduna were killed.
The school debunked the claims.
He later apologised for the wrong information contained in his tweets, while his driver was picked up by DSS.
